The Days That Could Have Been
by labyrinthofsuffering11
Summary: AU, where Rose is stuck in the parallel universe still and finds an unexpected surprise. Sass and adventure follows.


AN: The first chapter about an AU Doctor when Rose is stranded in the parallel universe. What's tying them together?

It's not at a shop where she sees him. She's working for Torchwood in _this _universe, and she never expects to see him again. The dimension cannon was being worked on, but no significant progress had been made.

It's on a call from a concerned citizen, a man swimming in a leather jacket, holding a bomb, and grinning maniacally. The picture is so familiar it _hurts. _She has to see if it's him, though.

Mickey warns her that it's probably not the Doctor, couldn't possibly be the Doctor, Rose, because they had researched him, remember?

But she can't listen to him.

She's the first voulnteer for the mission. Mickey is the second. Jake is the third. Their little band of friends standing together, like they had done for the cybermen, and like they will do for her now. She knows they will have her back, no matter what it is they encounter on the mission. She finds herself eternally thankful, because she knows that even if it is this universe's version of him, even if he turns out wanting to kill her, she would not be able to kill him.

In the end, she does not meet him like she expects. He collides with her, her arse hits the concrete, the unforgiving concrete.

She grumbles and rubs it, and is about to give the clumsy idiot who's knocked her on the sidewalk a piece of her mind when it's _him_. She swallows heavily and he steels her with a glare she thought was long lost, and all she can say is, "Oi, mate! Watch where you're goin'!"

He looked at her, surprised that she would make the outburst when he's looked at her so fiercely perhaps, then extended his free hand to help her up.

It's just as he's helping her up that the other two-thirds of her ragtag team show up.

"Rose!" Mickey exclaims, then stops short at the sight.

"'M sorry, miss," the not quite Doctor apologizes, switching the bomb into his other hand to rub the back of his neck. "I'm just lookin' for somethin'. Wasn't watchin' where I was goin', really."

His cheeks flush red, and Rose has to fight the urge to fling herself into his arms. He's so much like her other Doctor, and she loved that Northern accent, who had she been _kidding_?

"By any chance, did you see anythin' weird?" He looked at her hopefully.

Mickey cleared his throat. "Typical," he muttered. "Even the other him and you two still act like you're the only two bloody beings in the world."

Rose turned around to smack him but she saw the smirk and the brightness of his eyes.

"And, no," Mickey continued, "Not that you asked Jake and I, but no. We haven't seen anythin' weird, mate. Just a concerned citizen talkin' about a lunatic wavin' a bomb around. Honestly, why am I not surprised?" he asked, turning to Rose at the last sentence with an air of exasperation.

"What are you natterin' on about?" the other Doctor asked, corners of his mouth pulled down into a frown.

He sighed. "Nothin'. Rose?" He looked at her expectantly.

And suddenly, Rose Tyler had no idea what to say. She had gone over thousands of scenarios in her head, but she couldn't find anything to move it forward without sounding like she should be committed.

"Uhm, you two, you go on ahead. Pick us up some chips, yeah?" She asked this last part with a hand on Mickey's arm.

"You sure?" Mickey asked, eyes on Rose for any signs of distress, she was sure.

"Got my mobile, haven't I?" She rolled her eyes. "Be right there, promise."

"Come on," Jake said, pulling him by the elbow. "Let's go, Mick."

Mickey went unwillingly, glancing back at the pair of them the entire time.

"Now then, you," Rose said, turning to face the other Doctor once more. "What's your name?"

"It's John," he said, looking at her like she had grown a second head. "John Smith."

Her heart sank at that. "Don't suppose you'd be chasin' after anythin', would you?"

"Of course!" He beamed at her. "Ex-wife."

"Erm, sorry. What?" Rose asked, blinking several times, wondering if she had heard him right.

"Well, it's really sort of a long story," he said, looking at her with the same expression the Northern Doctor had given her when he thought she might be cross with him.

"What did you do?" she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"When I say ex-wife," John began, "it's only she that thinks she was my wife in the first place, you see. There are these things, living plastic, and I was just strikin' up a conversation, right? Come to find out, she tells the consciousness we were married! So, now, they're tryin' to kill me, makin' her officially, my ex-wife. Hang on, why am I tellin' you this?" He scowled.

Rose busted out laughing. "You are completely barkin'!" she exclaimed.

"This is why I can't talk to bloody humans!" he huffed.

She sobered at that. "What did you say?"

His eyes widened as if he had realized what he said. "Nothin'," he said firmly, before turning around in the other direction.

"Wait!" Rose called out. "I know you're an alien!"

He turned around at this. "What?" HIs expression looked thunderous.

"And I also know, you're called the Doctor," she said, confidence building.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "How d'you know so much?"

"Because," she started, "I used to travel with another version of you in a parallel world."

This time it was him that laughed. Two short, humorless barks. "Nice try, whatever you are. No such thing anymore. Not since...the Time War."

Rose's eyes shined with tears. "It happened for you here, too?"

"I-what?" he asked, obviously stunned by her knowledge. "You say you're from a parallel universe?"

"Yeah."

"Then you won't mind me takin' a look?" he asked.

She hesitated. Her entire body tensed, but it was because not even the other Doctor, _her_ Doctor, had asked for something this private and so non-chalant. She was being ridiculous. This was still the Doctor, albeit a different form of the Doctor, but she still trusted him with her life. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Yeah. Yeah, go ahead."

He blinked in surprise at her, but nodded. "Right. Just gonna do it, then." The Doctor took a few steps forward and placed his hands on her forehead. "This won't hurt," he whispered before she felt a presence place itself inside her mind.

Immediately images from her time with this Doctor flew into her mind.

"_Run!" A hand in hers, a manic grin. Two pairs of footsteps legging it down a dark corridor to the lift. There were these plastic things chasing them, but Rose was more interested in the man holding her to him, the man who saved her life._

…_.._

"_Clingin' to the skin of this tiny little world…" _

_He dropped her hand and she felt the ground beneath her feet tumble with it._

…

"_Are you alien?" She already knew the answer, already knew, didn't care, just needed to hear the words come from his lips._

"_Yes. Is that alright?" _

_She could see their every interaction converging on this point. _

"_Yeah." She answered quickly, because she knew if she paused, he would think she didn't accept him. On the contrary, she was very, very intrigued by this man. Well, alien._

…_.._

"_I've got no A levels, no job, no future. But, I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School Under Seven's Gymnastic Team. I got the bronze!" _

_With that, Rose hacked through the chain and swung down to save the Doctor._

…

"_Did I mention it also travels in time?" _

_There it was. The other shoe Rose had always been waiting on to drop. This was the moment, the question, and she knew the answer._

_She turned to Mickey, laying on the ground by now. "Thanks." _

"_For what?" he asked confusedly._

"_Exactly." She grinned, kissed him on the cheek, and ran towards the TARDIS._

…_._

"_This is who I am right here, right now!" _

…_._

"_She's my plus one."_

…

"_I'm left travelin' on my own, 'cause there's no one else."_

"_There's me." _

…_._

"_Not a bad life?"_

"_Better with two." _

…_._

"_You look beautiful! Considering…"_

"_Considering what?"_

"_For a human!" _

…_.._

"_I'm so glad I met you."_

…

"_No wonder you never stand still." _

…_._

"_She slapped you!"_

"_Nine hundred years, and I've never been slapped by anyone's mother before!" _

…

"_I could save the world, but lose you." _

…

_BAD WOLFBAD WOLFBAD WOLF_

…_._

"_Oh, Rose. They're gone. They're all gone."_

…_._

"_I thought you were dead!" _

…_._

"_Tell him to go stand outside, then." _

…_.._

"_Looks like it's just you and me again." _

"_Yeah."_

"_Good." _

…_._

"_I only take the best. I've got Rose." _

…_._

"_Those two words, they've been followin' us." _

…

"_I'll keep you waitin' a long time!" _

…_._

"_Look, I'll tell him you're not really my boyfriend." _

…_._

"_Just say you're sorry."_

"_I am. I'm sorry." _

…

"_You've got the moves? Show me your moves." _

…_.._

"_Rose, I've just remembered! I do know how to dance!" _

…_._

"_You will find your feet at the end of your legs." _

…

"_Into time...and space!"_

…_._

"_Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life." _

…_.._

"_You're gonna burn!" _

…

"_You were fantastic, absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So, was I." _

…

"_Come here, I think you need a Doctor." _

_GLOWING, DOCTOR, KISSING, BADWOLFBADWOLFBADWOLF._

Rose was suddenly yanked back into reality forcefully, aware of the other Doctor's arms supporting her middle fully. Otherwise, she might have crumpled.

"So," she said loudly, trying to skate over the fact that the Doctor had never read her thoughts before, "What did you think? Believe me now?"

The other Doctor said nothing. His lips pursed into a frown, and his brows creased in between his nose. He was studying her, plain and simple.

Fine, she could do the same thing. Rose took in his apperance, trying to spot any differences between the two Doctors.

His frown only deepened at that. "D'you still have the time vortex runnin' though you, or did that idiot manage to get it all out?"

Anger flashed through her mind that someone would dare call the Doctor an idiot, even if it was another version of himself. "Oi!" she exclaimed hotly. "He's not an idiot!"

"Then, how'd you get the time vortex in your veins?" he asked, shaking his head angrily. "You should have never been exposed-"

"It was my fault, alright?" Rose cut him off angrily. "So, just leave 'im alone!"

He stepped towards her cautiously, and placed an hand on her shoulder. "Were you and him…?"

Her gaze dropped to the ground. She swallowed. "Well, I-" It was then her mobile phone cut into the moment, blaring lodly. Rose sighed heavily and answered it. "Hello?"

"Rose?" Mickey asked. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," she answered him, then sighed. "I mean, no. Look, I'm on my way, okay?"

She could practically feel Mickey's curiousity and protectiveness radiating through the line. "He didn't hurt you?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. Nothin' like that. It's just...complicated."

"Okay- just, be careful, babe."

"Will do, Micks."

Rose pressed the end button, and glanced at the Doctor once more. She wasn't keen on leaving this version of the Doctor as soon as she saw him, but she couldn't make her team wonder about her anymore.

"I gotta go," she told him. "My team's wonderin' about me."

"Wait!" he said brusquely, catching her off guard.

"Yeah?"

"Where is he?'' he asked softly. "How did you get stuck here?"

She swallowed thickly. "He's trapped back in my home world, and I'm trapped here. It's just as well, really. The universe needs him."

The Doctor shook his head fascinatedly. "There's just one more thing," he said.

"What's that?"

"Why did you look so surprised to see me? You looked like you had seen a ghost."

"It's been three years, hasn't it?" she said blankly. "How would you look?"

"No," he said, tone determined. "If what you showed me was true, you would be workin' hard to get back to your Doctor, so you'd be overjoyed as soon as you saw me, without knowin' I was the parallel version at first. So, don't lie to me. What happened?"

Rose sighed. "You regenerated. When I took the time vortex inside of me."

He looked puzzled. "He was rather fond of you, wasn't he?"

She scoffed. "I'm goin' now."

"Guess this is goodbye then, Rose Tyler."

Her heart clenched painfully at how alike her name sounded on his tongue, but on this Doctor there was a note of detachment to it that he wasn't in awe of her.

"Goodbye, Doctor." She couldn't help but wrap her arms around his neck, squeezing him gently, and not resisting the temptation to slip her business card into the pocket of his trousers.

With one final sad look at him, she turned and started walking towards the chippy and her team.


End file.
